Girl With A Broken Smile
by angelshavetheirwickedschemes
Summary: Tia has had it rough and is in an abusive relationship. Punk is her best friend & has been for years. They keep each other sane and Punk wants to keep her safe when he finds out the truth. Drama, Comfort & Romance PUNK/OC
1. Chapter 1

**Okay so i had a sudden burst of inspiration, so i decided to put it to good use and start a new story. I have lots of ideas for this and i hope you enjoy it as much as i do. Here is a little about Tia and the story! I hope you enjoy! R/R - Jade. xo**

**_Tia is an orphan and has been since she was a baby, she lives in Chicago, and is 27 years old. Lucy was her best friend in the orphanage until she was adopted by a kind family, and shortly after Tia was put into foster care, but the family was horrible to her and a lot happened to her during her time there. That was when she met Phil/CM Punk and they were the best of friends, and still are to this day. Tia has been in an abusive relationship for six months and this is where the story begins. _**

* * *

><p><strong><span>CHAPTER ONE: WHO AM I?<span>**

The rain was as cold as ice as it splattered against Tia's sore, burning face. It wasn't actually burning, but it felt like it, due to some fresh bruising growing over the edge of the left side of her jaw, radiating heat and pain throughout that area, making it throb in pain. Tia had been a victim of abuse for the last six months, and it all started when she agreed to go out with a seemingly nice guy – but that's how it always begins. A perfectly nice, innocent woman goes out and ends up falling for a seemingly nice, perfect guy. But then everything that she thought their relationship was turns out to be a massive steaming pile of bullshit, and she is then thrown into a relationship where trust is a complete issue, and that seemingly perfect guy ends up being the devil in disguise, coming home drunk or accusing you of things you haven't done. He turns out to b your typical, pathetic male that finds picking on vulnerable woman entertaining and satisfactory.

It was rare for Tia to get out of the house when _he _was around. But on this occasion she had managed to slip out of his sight and out of the front door in a flash, as soon as his back was turned. He had laid his hands on her again, for what felt like the millionth time. There was no holding back when he unleashed his anger upon her, oh no, there was no being gentle. It was almost like there was no humanity within him at all, like he had lost his soul to the devil and was now carrying out his darkest deeds on the one thing that had been there for him, and stood by him, for the last six months. He was a monster and Tia couldn't escape his grasp – he had her wrapped around his little finger and she was too weak, too scared to leave him.

"Who are you?" The raven-haired girl whispered to herself in the darkness of the stormy night. There was no telling who she was anymore. She used to be a strong, independent woman with lots of friends and a killer attitude. And now she was a broken mess, she had been forced to stop seeing her friends; she had been locked away as a girl that never got to walk in the sun. Well, not unless she ran away for a few hours or had that monster by her side. She had completely changed, and she hated feeling this empty, but fear and sadness were the only emotions that she knew how to feel. Tears slowly rolled from the corners of her bright blue eyes, but it was hard to tell whether or not she was crying due to the fact that it was raining, and so it easily disguised her tears.

Tia had been out of the house for the best part of an hour, sat on a bench in a park, in the middle of Chicago. She had walked around aimlessly for half an hour or so before ending up in the place where she was now, deciding to just sit there in silence so that she could enjoy the peace, even if it was raining and nearing midnight. In her coat pocket she heard her phone ringing over and over again, at first she had checked to see who was calling her, and upon seeing that it was that horrible man, she shoved it back into her pocket and let it ring. She knew that it would be used as an excuse to punish her later on, but right now she didn't really care, she had felt all kinds of pain and was now used to the regular punishments. She was punished for saying the wrong thing, looking in the direction of another man, staying out for too long or not telling him where she was going, he even punished her for not making his food right. He was the lowest man to ever walk the planet and she was the unfortunate one to step into his path and catch his eye.

He had her right where he wanted her. She had no family, mainly due to the fact that she was an orphan. The only 'family' she had was Lucy, a girl that she had befriended during her time at the orphanage. They were often mistaken to be sisters; they were the best of friends and remained so for at least three years. That was until Lucy was adopted one day by a loving family, and the two were torn apart from each other. Up until about six years ago when Tia turned twenty-one, which was when she and Lucy happened to bump into each other at a concert and they reconnected like fire and a candle. Unfortunately she wasn't able to see Lucy very much due to her strict partner, and was forced to contact her in secret, sending the occasional email to let her know that she was okay when her partner wasn't home.

And then there was Phil, better known as CM Punk, the Straight Edge Superstar, to the WWE universe. She had known him since she was fourteen, they met when she was at a foster home and they got along instantly. Even when she removed herself from care, they hung out regularly and were practically inseparable, up until the time when he got himself into the wrestling business and ended up leaving Chicago for months on end. But that didn't stop their friendship, they too, spoke whenever Tia was sure that she wouldn't get caught, but that wasn't often – her abusive partner was very strict. Punk knew about this, but she never told him about the severity of it, it would only make him worry and come to her aid, same goes with Lucy, and so she made sure to never let them know about how much she was knocked about and hurt.

And as if by magic, a quick bleep alerted her of the fact that she had received a text. She knew that this wouldn't be Mark, the violent monster, because he stuck to phone calls and voicemails, which he had now given up on. And so she pulled her phone from the pocket of her coat and looked down to see that Punk had sent her a text message. Tia couldn't help but pull a small smile, but hissed a little and lifted a hand to her cheek to try and ease the pain that the stretch of a smile had caused.

_Hey T! Guess who's back in chi-town 4 a few days? Coffee 2morrow?_

Tia instantly sighed, she knew that he would want to meet with her considering the fact that she hadn't seen him for at least a month and a half. But it would be hard to do so, with Mark and the fact that she was currently sporting a nice range of bruises from a few nights ago when Mark returned home completely wasted. She had commented on his excessive drinking, and he responded with unnecessary violence towards her. Tia found herself biting down on her lower lip as she considered her options, she couldn't let Punk down, but she didn't know if she could bring herself to go out like this, or even dare to do so knowing that Mark might find out.

_Welcome home! That'd be nice but I don't know if I can. Mark isn't work for long 2morrow & we have plans. T x_

She felt bad lying to him, but he couldn't ever know about Mark and his violent habits, if he knew that Mark was keeping her locked in against her will he wouldn't accept it and would undoubtedly storm up to the door and demand her freedom. Clearly Punk was still suffering with his insomnia and had nothing better to do than text, as Tia received one within at least a minute of sending her own.

_Oh come on, don't let me down. It's been 2 long! I'll even bring the coffee 2 u whilst Mark is work. How does that sound? _

Punk had a point – if they were to meet, why not meet at her own home whilst Mark was working? At least then she knew that it would be easier to lie to Mark, because that way, she wouldn't have even left the house. But then again, she didn't enjoy being home, it held too many horrible memories for her and she wanted to be out of there as often as possible. After thinking through her options, she decided on the best way around it.

_2morrow at 11am I think I'll be free. We can meet for coffee at the navy pier? I won't be able to stay for long though, lots 2 do. T x_

Tia leant back against the damp bench, tapping her fingertips against the screen of her phone; occasionally wiping away the drops of ran which fell onto it. Already she was starting to feel bad as she thought about the possible consequences of her actions. What if Mark found out about her meeting with Punk? Going out against his will would be bad enough, but if he knew about her being out with another man, he would surely go mad!

_Sounds great! Better not ditch me again. Why are u up so late? _

Of course she couldn't help but feel a little bad in response to the words that she read. She didn't want to ditch Punk and their plans, but sometimes she had to, she had no choice but to! Mark would randomly take time off of work to see her when he was in one of his rare good moods – which usually ended up with her doing 'something wrong' and it would end in arguments and tears. Thinking of Mark, right now, she really needed to be heading home – even if it would end up with more violence. She needed to rest, even though she knew that she wouldn't get much of it because Mark was awake. But if fate was on her side, Mark would be out getting drunk and spend the night with some other chick from the pub – after all, he was always out sleeping with other women, and it disgusted her that he came home and forced himself upon her afterwards. And whilst standing up to prepare herself for her walk home, she pressed the send button of her last text for the evening and shoved the phone back into her pocket. It contained the perfect lie, to cover up her horrible life.

_Couldn't sleep. Gotta go, I'll c u 2morrow T x_


	2. Chapter 2

**Okay so here's the next chapter. It isn't much as the moment because i'm just setting the story up for all of my other ideas. So here it is, enjoy. :) -Jade. xo  
><strong>

* * *

><p><strong>CHAPTER TWO: DID HE DO THIS TO YOU?<strong>

Tia had been right in guessing that Mark wouldn't be at home when she returned, he was nowhere to be seen, and in fact, he was currently in bed with another woman somewhere else in Chicago – another night, another girl. So she had been relieved to find out that she was alone, which meant that she wouldn't receive any form of punishment, and she could sleep as peacefully as her sore body would allow her to, to make the most of her time away from that monster. And when she woke up from her slumber in the morning, she was surprised to see that she was still on her own, and inside, she thanked the lord for having mercy on her for at least one night.

The black-haired beauty stretched beneath the covers before kicking them away from her body as she climbed away from the comfortable mattress. She had the most perfect figure, with curves in all of the right places, but bruises blemished that soft canvas and made her feel incredibly ugly and self-conscious. There were bruises on her ribs, arms and thighs – some were small, in the shape of fingertips due to the crippling strength that he used against her. They were old and fading, but there were a few fresh ones among them, all small apart from the one at the side of her jaw which was now turning a deep shade of green. This was why she didn't look at herself in the mirror, or at least she tried not to when she wandered through the bedroom, but whenever she entered the bathroom she had no choice but to look at her reflection. It was almost a daily routine; she would look at herself in the mirror and cry. What had she become? Why did she let this happen to her?

After pulling herself together she wiped her fingertips beneath her eyes to collect the tears and she slowly undressed herself to prepare herself for a much-deserved bath. Once she had finished washing herself she pulled the plug from the socket and hoisted herself up and out of the bath tub, grimacing at the pain she felt in her wrist. It wasn't too long ago now, when Mark shoved her to the ground and she ended up spraining her wrist which was still causing her a lot of pain from time to time; mainly when she put pressure on it. A sigh fled from her lips as she wrapped herself in a towel and made her way into the bedroom where she had already prepared her clothes for the day, resting neatly upon the freshly made bed. Tia dressed herself in a pair of acid-wash jeans and a simple black, v-neck top, finishing the ensemble with a hoody that was a little too big for her and a pair of scruffy high-top converse. She always dressed down unless somebody told her otherwise, and she was only going out briefly to meet with Punk, so there was no need to dress to impress.

Once her hair was dry she pulled the length of black waves back into a ponytail and took one last look at herself in the mirror. She looked okay, she looked normal behind her casual attire, but beneath the layers of material was a different story, and behind her calm exterior was a terrified little girl. After grabbing her phone, keys and money, she left the house and began her journey towards the coffee shop.

Throughout her entire walk there, she kept getting the urge to just turn around and run home. What if Mark found out about it somehow? She'd be in for a world of pain. What if Punk didn't believe her excuses? She had always been a terrible liar, simply because she hated doing it, so what if it ended up with a confrontation? She wouldn't be able to handle the truth when it came at her from another person's perspective – it was always harder to hear when it came from somebody close to you. All of her concerns were cut short when her gaze fell upon the familiar figure ahead of her. And there, stood outside of the coffee shop waiting, was Punk, a baseball cap on his head and his hood up – he looked just the way she remembered him. Tia had forgotten how calm she felt when she was around him, how she usually forgot about the troubles in her life and focused on her small amount of time with her best friend.

She noticed how a slight look of shock graced his features for just a split second as his gaze fell upon her and she couldn't help but flash a quick smile.

"Well, look who decided to show up." He teased with one of this infamous grins that was always slapped over the television screens during the television shows. A sheepish smile slipped over Tia's lips as she pulled the long sleeves of her hoody over hands; it was like a nervous twitch, everybody did something when they were nervous, chewed fingernails, tapped feet, Tia just happened to fiddle with her sleeves.

"Surprise." She dared to tease in her quiet voice, flashing another small smile as she stopped in front of him.

"It's a nice surprise!" he continued with his teasing habits as he looked down at her – she had always been significantly shorter than him. Most girls were! "What? No hug?" a look of mock sadness moved over his features, making Tia feel a little bad and just as she was about to make the decision to reach forward and hug him, he had grinned and pulled her tight against his chest. Tia slowly lifted her arms to wrap around his torso to hold herself against his chest as they hugged, enjoying the warmth and comfort whilst it lasted.

"I've missed you." she grumbled before being pushed back slowly by Punk's hands which were now curled around her shoulders as he looked down at her.

"Everybody misses me when I'm gone.. They can't live without me." Punk answered, resulting in a roll of Tia's eyes as she took in her friends teasing attitude. Of course she was used to it, but those who didn't know Punk were often annoyed by the endless stream of wit that fell from his mouth as soon as he opened it. "Nah, I missed you too, T.. Let's get inside, you look cold." And he was right, Tia had underestimated the weather, it hadn't looked cold out, just cloudy, but clearly she had been wrong and had made the wrong decision of wearing just a hoody, as she was now feeling the effects of the cold.

The two had been sat in the coffee shop for little more than half an hour, enjoying warm beverages and each other's company. Their conversation had been normal, the type of stuff that you would expect to hear from two people that hadn't seen each other for a couple of months. What have you been up to? How's life treating you? The usual. And they were now on the subject of Punk's work and where he had travelled to recently.

"It's all good at the moment. There's little time to rest though.. Who am I to complain though? I'm doing what I love so I'm not going to sit here and bitch about it." he admitted with a small chuckle. It made Tia smile, and it felt good to smile – there wasn't a lot of opportunities for Tia to be happy, so it made a change to be able to laugh and feel good about something for once.

"I'm glad you're happy, it's nice to see you doing something you've always loved." She commented with a heart-warming smile. It was a shame that she wasn't happy all of the time, she was a beautiful girl and her smiles made her look even better. Tia shifted her position and reached up to unzip her jacket and she was now a lot warmer than she had been before and she was getting a little uncomfortable sat there in something that made her feel even more warm. After slipping it off she sunk back into her seat and looked over at Punk with a small smile, only to have it fade as she noticed the look on his face.

"What are those?" he grumbled, his previous humours mode seemed to have vanished and he was now being completely serious. It was only then when she noticed what he was talking about, as she had noticed the line of his gaze and she slowly reached up to the area of her neck beneath her ear and jaw. It was then when she was reminded of the bruises when she felt pain as she pressed down slightly against the area. How had she been so stupid? She had completely forgotten about those, as usually they were hidden by her long hair which she usually wore down, opposed to having it tied back.

"It's nothing.. I don't even know how they got there." It was a pathetic lie, and Phil knew it, he always knew when she was lying, she would quickly look away from his gaze and avoid eye contact at all costs, because that was when she usually broke.

"Don't tell me that they're nothing. They're bruises Tia.. and by the looks of it, you've had someone.." he seemed to struggle to get out the word, and when he did it was full of disgust and anger. Who wouldn't be angry at the idea of their best friend being hurt in such a way? And he knew that it was probably Mark, he had done it once before, why wouldn't he do it again? Of course he was unaware of how often this was all going on. ".. _wrap_ their dirty hands around your neck. Don't tell me that it's not what it looks like, Tia.. Don't lie to me."

Tia was panicking now, she didn't like to lie at all, she hated it, but then she didn't want Punk knowing about her explosive, abusive relationship with Mark. He would know that she had kept the full extent of it a secret from him for five months, and she knew that he would be pissed. Who wouldn't be? She remained silent, lowering her head as she caressed her sore neck whilst biting down on the skin of her cheek.

"Tia.. Did Mark do this to you?" he almost growled, which sent chills down Tia's spine. And when she looked up at him through sad, blue eyes, without anything to say to him, he knew that he was right and the look on his face was terrifying.


	3. Chapter 3

**Thanks for the reviews guys! It really means a lot to me. Here's the update, and i hope you like it! It's pretty chilled at the moment, but things will get more exciting, i promise! :) Thanks! - Jade. xo**

* * *

><p><strong><span>CHAPTER THREE: BE SAFE.<span>**

Punk was fuming, boiling with anger from the inside out. He absolutely hated men who had the nerve to lay their hands on women – it was the lowest of the low, and he had no idea how a man could stoop to that level. The worst thing of all was that the victim of abuse was Tia, one of his best friends, someone that had been there for him for so many years.

"How long?" he questioned in almost an accusing tone of voice – he didn't meant to come off that way, but he was just so angry and he had a terrible feeling that the violence had been going on for longer than she let him believe. Punk noticed how Tia was avoiding making eye contact with him, and this was a clear sign that she felt uncomfortable, probably due to the fact that the truth had now come out and there was no way of her stopping it.

"Five months.." Tia answered in a quiet tone of voice, lowering her head in shame as she picked at her fingernails – another one of her nervous traits.

"Five.." Punk spluttered, pinching the bridge of his nose with his thumb and finger as he squeezed his eyes shut for a couple of seconds. Words couldn't explain how annoyed he was. And no matter how much he wanted to be pissed off with Tia for keeping such a big secret from him, he couldn't bring himself to do so, she just looked so sad and vulnerable. "Why didn't you tell me sooner?" he finally breathed as he opened his eyes and dropped his hand back to his lap, gripping onto his knee as he looked over at her. All he wanted was answers.

"Because.." The raven-haired female began, twiddling her thumbs. It was obvious that she was struggling to come out with the truth. But he knew she hated lying, especially to him, and especially about something so big when the person questioning her was in front of her. This wasn't a simple affair over the phone where it was easier to lie because facial expressions couldn't be seen, but this was different, and it was easy to see if she was lying. "Because I'm _scared _of him." she finally admitted in a whisper, she looked so helpless and this angered Punk even more. Tia had once been one of the funniest, strongest women he had known, she always stuck up for herself and never let an opinion get in her way. And since being with Mark, it had all changed, she had transformed into a completely different person and it was worrying. He should have picked up on it sooner. How had he been so stupid?

"You know you could have told me, Tia.. I would have helped you." Punk's voice finally lowered as he took sympathy towards her, there was no way he could be mad at her, and she needed him right now.

"I couldn't.. I'm so embarrassed that I let this happen to me.." Tia bowed her head as a frown creased at her lips. Punk sighed and reached out to her, resting his hand on her knee as he leant forward to look her in the eye.

"Don't be.. This isn't your fault, it's his.. No man should ever lay his hands on a woman." He tried to comfort her in some way, shape, or form. He didn't want her feeling like it was her fault, because it wasn't, not at all. "What happened?" He wanted to know how this all came to be. But of course, he imagined that it would be a touchy subject for her, so if she didn't want to talk about it, he would understand. But it wouldn't make him any less angry.

"Well.. we were fine to begin with.. I thought we were _perfect._." Tia almost spat the word, laughing a little at how stupid she sounded. Punk just sat there, a sympathetic, sad look on his features as he watched her and listened carefully. "But then he just started to change.. He would go out and then come home completely drunk, and that's when it would start.. He would shout at me, accuse me of cheating and push me around. And you know how much I hate excessive drinking. I would tell him that and then he would just flip. But then he started going mad at me when he _wasn't _drunk.. He would just come home from work and flip out if I hadn't cleaned the house or cooked him his dinner the way he wanted it. And then he wouldn't ever let me go out alone.. He would demand that I stay indoors whilst he worked, and whenever I went out, I'd come home and he would.. he would hit me.." Tia seemed to be struggling with her confession and Punk picked on this so he reached forwards and took hold of her hands in his own, sucking on his lip ring as he watched her through an intense gaze. "I couldn't bring myself to leave him though.. He would always apologise to me, and he would seem so genuine. He'd get tearful; he'd buy me flowers and tell me that he loves me. And you know how much of a softie I am.. It would win me over. But then he started cheating, and the attacks got worse.. And in the end, I wanted to leave him, but I was just too scared to. If I ever told him I wanted to leave.. he would get so mad at me." A tear suddenly broke free, and Punk sighed as he leant forwards to pull Tia against his chest, to comfort her and distract himself, as the confession had left him bubbling with rage inside and he needed something to keep his mind off the truth until he was able to let it out.

"Listen to me, and listen good, okay?" Punk began as he pulled back, holding onto her shoulders as he caught her gaze, making sure that she understood him when he continued with what he had to say. "I'm going to help you through this.. And we're going to clean up this mess _before _I leave for the next house show on Saturday. So that's two days. _We _are going to confront Mark, _we _are going to get all of your things, and _we _are going to travel together." He made sure to emphasize the fact that he was going to be there for her through it all, and that she would never be alone. He needed her to understand the fact that this wasn't going to go away by itself and that they needed to nip this thing in the butt before it got any worse.

He caught sight of the uneasy look gracing Tia's beautiful features and before she opened her mouth to retaliate, Punk lifted his finger as a gesture of silence before quickly sweeping in with his next set of words. "Don't tell me you can't do it. I know it will be hard.. But I'm going to be there for you, I'm going to _help _you. You can't let him do this to you anymore.. You can't let him control you." Punk explained, flashing a small smile in her direction, and it was nice to see one in return, even if it was an uneasy one.

"I guess.." she breathed in response to his words of encouragement whilst lifting her hands out of his to push her fingertips through the roots of her hair – a sign of frustration, or perhaps stress. It was probably going to be the latter considering the fact that she was being talked into doing something that she had been unsuccessful at so many times in the past, and was now scared of making those decisions again. The sound of a phone ringing broke through the brief moment of silence and Punk looked down towards her phone which had been placed upon the table, and the caller ID revealed that it was none other than Mark, and the name alone made Punk see red.

Tia reached out and reluctantly answered the call, pressing her phone to her ear as she took the call. Punk sat back in his seat and watched intently as she spoke on the phone to her deranged boyfriend, a man he so badly wanted to beat down for making Tia's life a complete misery.

"Hey.. Yeah I'm just having some coffee.." of course, it wasn't a complete lie because she was drinking coffee, but what she left out was the fact that she was out with a _male _friend drinking coffee, not sat on the sofa at home waiting for his return. "Okay.. I'll see you in a bit, yeah.." she paused for a split second, passing a hesitant look towards Punk as she responded to the voice on the other end of the phone. "Love you too." It was clear that it was hard for her to utter those words, but she had to make it as convincing as possible, he could understand that. After all, from what she had told him, he assumed that Mark would flip at the slightest bit of hesitancy or uncertainty from the woman. He watched as Tia locked her phone and shoved it into the pocket of her jeans before slipping on her hoody.

"What's up?" he questioned with a raise of an eyebrow as he lifted himself to his feet after Tia slipped out of her seat.

"I have to get home.. Mark's heading back from work and I have to be there. If I'm not there.." she cut off into silence, not wanting to go into any detail. Of course, it didn't take much for Punk to figure out what would happen if she wasn't there – she would be punished, no doubt about that.

"Right, well I'll let you go then.. Just make sure to contact me as soon as you can so that I know you're okay.." he ordered her in a gentle, yet stern tone of voice as he looked down at her, meeting her gaze.

"I'll try to text you in the evening or something.. I can't say when though." She answered with a sigh, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear before reaching down to zip up her jacket.

Punk didn't want to let her go knowing that she was returning home to that monster. He wanted to go with her and protect her from the potential violence that could come at any given minute. But he knew that he had to. All he could hang onto was the fact that he would be helping Tia out of the mess and taking her under his wing to look after her, to treat her the way she deserved to be treated, with kindness and respect. Not beatings and insults. "Be safe." He murmured, not happy about the idea of her walking away from his company.

"I'll be fine.. I promise." Tia answered whilst resting her hands on his shoulders so that she could reach up onto her tiptoes to press a kiss to his cheek. He had always loved the way Tia was, she had always been a kind soul, an easy person to get along with. She was caring and was nice to nearly everyone who deserved it. Punk sighed as she lowered herself back to the ground and passed him a small, weak smile as she turned her back on him and left the coffee shop. All he could do was watch her walk away, and hope that she would contact him as soon as it was safe for her to do so.


	4. Chapter 4

**Thanks for reviewing and following my story, guys! It means sooo much to me. :) I love knowing what you guys think, so keep on with the reviews and don't be afraid to send me a message! Here's the next chapter, i had some time to write whilst babysitting, so yeah, here it is! I hope you enjoy. - Jade xo.**

* * *

><p><strong><span>CHAPTER FOUR: BROKEN PROMISE.<span>**

Thankfully, Tia had got home before Marks return from work, so when he walked through the front door she had been settled down on the sofa with a fresh cup of coffee in her hands and another waiting on the coffee table for Mark's pleasure. The evening passed by with very few difficulties, and for once, Mark had been in a good mood and so she wasn't at the receiving end of any violence. And they ended up in the position they were in now, watching a movie together in the living room. Mark had been trying to snuggle up with Tia but she had been hesitant, but she had to comply, or else he would think that she was rejecting him and that would only end badly. So she had ended up pushed against his side with his arm wrapped around her. But she had tried to ignore his strong hands on her waist and was focusing on the movie to try and keep her mind off of it.

"So.. I heard something pretty funny today." Mark hummed into Tia's ear, startling her a little, seeing as they had been sat in silence for the last forty minutes or so. It was unlike him to strike up a conversation with her; then again, it was unlike him to be in such a calm, good mood.

"What is it?" she asked quietly, trying her hardest to sound as interested as possible. If he thought for a second that she wasn't interested in what he was saying, he would flip as quick as a switch.

"Well.. my good friend Tommy told me that he saw something unusual today.." Mark began in a somewhat teasing tone of voice, with that dark edge to it, which worried Tia. She knew that tone well and already she knew that he was slowly progressing towards his angry state of mind where rage and violence became his two best friends. "He said that whilst he was having coffee with his friends he saw you.. with another man." A knot instantly formed in Tia's stomach and she felt her eyes widen as they kept their focus on the television screen, to the point where they began to burn as she forgot to blink – she had completely froze. "And that's pretty funny.. Because I told him that it couldn't have been you because you told _me _that you were at home." Now she was beginning to feel very, very sick. Sick with complete fear. Her heart began to race in her chest, thudding against her chest like a hammer being tapped quickly against a wall. "But he was _sure _that it was you.. Because only _you _have this.." his voice trailed into a sinister drawl as he traced his fingertips over the sleeve tattoo on her shoulder. The contact made her flinch, Goosebumps instantly rising all over her skin, a chill of fear running down her spine. His fingers trailed down to her wrist slowly, before he suddenly gripped onto it with a crushing strength behind his hold, making her bend into his hold and hiss in pain. "Care to explain?" he growled viciously into her ear.

"I.. It couldn't have been me.. I was here all day." Tia lied helplessly, not wanting to admit what she had done to him, not when he was heading into that dangerous state of mind. But he wasn't having any of it. Mark jumped to his feet and leant down over her, forcing her back into the corner of the sofa as she began to cry in complete fear. She was terrified.

"DON'T LIE TO ME!" he shouted, his face inches from hers as his skin turned a deep shade of red, his hands shaking in fury as he pointed his finger at her face in another accusing gesture to go with his words. Tia couldn't speak, she tried to, but all that she could muster was a helpless whimper. He didn't like that one bit. In an instant he had grabbed hold of her shoulders and pulled her up to her feet, only to shove her back forcefully against the wall. Pain radiated over her back as a result of the impact and her tears began to flow quickly, one after the other as sobs sounded from the depths of her throat.

"Please don't do this.." she sobbed. God she sounded so pathetic, but what else could she do but cry and beg for him to stop? Of course, begging was useless because it only spurred him on and he was blind with rage, too blind to see that he was hurting her. Not like he would have cared anyway.

"Do what?" he growled, getting in her face once again, and as she tried to turn her face away so that she wouldn't have to look him in the eye, he gripped her chin in his hand and forced her to look up at him. "This?" he added before quickly pulling back his hand, only to throw it back towards her in the form of a fist, connecting with a brutal force against her cheek. The force made her head quickly twist to the side and a sudden, dull ache throbbed throughout the area.

She was in too much shock to take notice of what happened next. All she felt was pain, an intense amount of pain which didn't want to stop any time soon. And just when she thought it couldn't get any worse it did. Mark took complete advantage of her in her vulnerable state. She was now alone in the house, as Mark had grabbed his coat and left as soon as he had finished with her – probably to go and get drunk somewhere and sleep with another woman. Tia whimpered as she came too, beginning to wish that she could just fall back into unconsciousness, because then she didn't feel the pain that was there to greet her as soon as she came to. It was unclear what her internal injuries were, but it was pretty obvious that she had taken a severe beating, with blood covering her face and bruises and red marks growing on patches of her skin. A sob sounded from her throat as she began to cry, she felt so helpless as she lay there on the ground, unable to move without pain radiating throughout her body.

A ringing sounded from within the room and she came to realise that it was her phone; someone was ringing her, but that was the least of her concerns, she needed her phone so that she could call for help, because by the looks of it, the neighbours weren't the least bit concerned, or they just hadn't heard her screaming and cries. With a cry of pain Tia rolled onto her stomach, which only resulted in more sobs as the pain increased but she fought through it and dragged her way across the floorboards towards her phone which had been knocked off of the table and onto the ground during their struggles. She was panicking because it felt like her life was just draining away, and all she wanted to do was sleep – but she knew never to fall asleep when you were hurt badly, that's when things went wrong. Tia reached out for the phone as the screen lit up again and her fingers just about reached. The caller ID looked like it said Phil, but she couldn't tell, as her vision was completely blurred as she was sure that her eyes were swollen. She swiped her finger across the screen to answer the call and rested her head over the handset, unable to lift her arm to hold it to her ear.

"Tia?" the worried voice of Punk sounded through the receiver.

"Help me Phil.." Tia cried quietly into the phone, desperate for help in her time of need.

"What's wrong? Tia, what's happened?"

"I broke my promise.. I need help.." she sobbed, having promised Punk that she would be okay.

"I'm on my way." And with that, the line went dead and Tia was once again, left alone. She was so cold, probably due to the fact that Mark had shown no mercy when ripping the clothes from her body. She remained still, laying there in silence as time ticked by. She didn't know how long it had been exactly, but she clearly she had slowly begun to slip back into an unconscious state, as the sound of banging at the front door woke her up, but she was still close to falling back into that state.

"TIA!" Punk called from the other side of the door, and all that she could do was groan as she had lost the ability to talk after hours of screaming and sobbing. After a few more pounds against the door, he had clearly been left with no other choice, because seconds later Punk barged through the door, breaking it open as a last resort. "Tia?" he called out again.

"Phil.." she croaked from her position behind one of the sofas and within seconds the sight of someone's shoes fell into her line of sight.

"Oh my God." Was all that the straight edge superstar could muster.


	5. Chapter 5

**I'M SORRY FOR TAKING SO LONG! I've been super busy with college recently and i also have a lot going on in my life so it's pretty hectic right now which means i don't have a lot of time to write new chapters. I have so many ideas! So i'll try my best to update once a week! Thanks a bunch for all of the great reviews, it means soo much! So, here we go, a short, but emotional chapter for me to write. R/R - Jade. xo**

* * *

><p><strong><span>CHAPTER FIVE: IT'S OKAY TO CRY.<span>**

LIFT ME UP - CHRISTINA AGUILERA.  
><em>If you lift me up<br>Just get me through this night  
>I know I'll rest tomorrow<br>And I'll be strong enough to try._

Everything had happened in such a rush and once Punk had slipped back into reality, he lifted his head to look around at the busy waiting room of the emergency room in the local hospital. As soon as he had found Tia lying broken on the floor he had called for an ambulance without so much as a second of hesitation. And now he was sat in the brightly lit waiting room, twiddling his thumbs as he waited impatiently for the doctor on duty to come and give him an update on his poor friend. The wrestler lifted his right hand to rub over his chin, the evidence of stubble prickling against the palm of his hand. He was tired but his Insomnia prevented him from having any rest, and right now it was the last thing on his mind. He was angry and upset with what had happened, he wanted to track down that son of a bitch and put him in his place, no man should ever lay his hands on a woman, no man should _ever _put a defenceless woman in a freaking hospital!

Meanwhile, in an examination room, Tia was being looked over by the doctor on duty and a few nurses assisting him in his examination. She hadn't stopped crying since waking up on the floor of her home, and the fact that she was in a lot more pain made her cry harder. She was completely terrified and all she wanted was the comfort of having Punk by her side but the nurses had already told her that she couldn't see him until they had treated her. The fluorescent lights above her had left her temporarily blinded, and so everything was a blur to her, and the tears didn't really improve her vision. The doctor carefully moved her arm which resulted in a sudden cry of pain from the raven-haired female, followed by another set of sobs.

"I know it hurts, it's okay, we're going to help you." A middle-aged nurse tried her best to comfort Tia, pushing her hair away from her clammy face before standing back up properly.

"Okay, we need to sedate her.. There's no way I can examine her properly when she's in this much pain. She's moving too much." The doctor informed his colleagues and within seconds, a nurse had administered the medication.

AN HOUR AND A HALF LATER. 

Punk was still feeling very impatient and had been pacing the floor for the last ten minutes, his hands tucked into the pockets of his hoodie, occasionally lifting a hand to push his dark hair away from his face. He hadn't received any information regarding his friend, even the receptionist had nothing to offer which only aggravated him more.

"Sir, are you here for Tia Matthews?" The low voice of the doctor pulled Punk out of his thoughts and he turned around to face him, giving a quick nod of his head.

"Yes. How is she? Is she okay?" he asked hurriedly, suddenly feeling very anxious to know what was going on with his friend's health.

"Tia is going to be fine, she took a nasty beating but luckily there wasn't any terrible damage. Although, there is something that has concerned us. If you want to follow me, I can explain everything in more detail in my office.." The doctor suggested, thinking that being in a more private environment would be the best thing to do.

"Sure." Punk agreed quickly, wanting to hear what that dick had done to his best friend, to his beautiful, little Tia. And within seconds he was following the doctor down the corridor and then into his office. Punk refused the offer of taking a seat, and stood with his arms crossed over his chest as he waited to hear the full extent of her injuries.

"Well.." The doctor began as he sat back on his desk, glancing over his clipboard before lifting his gaze to look over at the wrestler. "The only serious injury was her wrist, which was broken in what we can assume would have been the result of a fall. So that's now in a cast. Apart from that, Tia has some bruising, mainly on her torso but upon closer inspection, there are some nasty bruises on her arms, thighs, neck and waist.." The doctor paused for a moment as he cleared his throat, glancing down at his notes for a second time. Punk could tell that something more serious was about to be brought up, he had a gut feeling about it and he suddenly felt sick as he came to realise that his suspicions may be true. "I'm sorry.. But Tia was raped. As you can see there's evidence of a struggle, but unfortunately in this case, she wasn't able to fight the attacker off." He paused again, only this time it was to allow Punk time to let the information sink in.

Punk lifted a hand to rub over his face as he sighed heavily, pinching the bridge of his nose with his index finger and thumb as he closed his eyes, trying to calm himself down. He was beyond angry at this point.

"God dammit." He grumbled, dropping his hand back to his side with another sigh, opening his eyes to look around the room before looking back over at the doctor.

"Right now, I've got my colleagues running some tests. It has to be done to make you aware of the possible outcomes. And of course, we have had to call in the police to deal with matters further. As it is quite obvious that this is a result of domestic violence. We came across old bruises, in areas that are more common on victims of abuse. And so the police have to take this case after we're finished." The doctor informed Punk, a sympathetic look flashing over his features as he pushed himself away from the desk, holding his clipboard to his side. "If you want, you can see Tia now, she'll be tired but that's only because of what she's been through and the medication we've given her."

"I want to see her." Punk confirmed in a clear voice, shoving his hands back into the pockets of his hoodie as he followed the doctor for a second time, only this time he was being led to the room where his friend was situated. The doctor pushed open the door and gestured for Punk to walk in first.

"I'll leave you alone and I'll let you know when the police get here." He spoke quietly to Punk, as he wanted it to be heard by him only, as he didn't want to worry the poor girl. After that, he closed the door and left Punk alone in the room with Tia.

Tia had been left alone and informed of the fact that the doctor was going to go and get Punk, and so when the door opened she slowly rolled her head to the side and looked over at her best friend, stood at the end of her room. Tia instantly felt herself being pushed back towards tears as her eyes began to tingle and a familiar tight feeling put pressure on her throat. A horrible sound emitted from somewhere in the room, and it was only when she found herself struggling to breathe properly, that she realised it was the sound of her sobs. Punk had found his way over to Tia within an instant and as she cried her carefully leant over to hold her against his chest, and it couldn't have been causing that much discomfort, as Tia was lifting her arms to wrap around his torso.

"It's okay to cry. Let it all out." He breathed into her ear through her soft, black hair, sighing sadly as his friend continued to cry her heart out in the safety of his arms.


	6. NOTE

Hey guys! I'm sorry it's taken so long but I've had a lot going on lately! HOWEVER, everything is settling now and I am currently in the process of writing the next few chapters! There is still hope! Haha! See you soon ;)

Jade. x


End file.
